KEARNEY, Neb. - A non-profit organization in central Nebraska is making major changes this summer by pausing its partner grants and altering its funding model.

The Kearney Area United Way made the announcement Wednesday saying there were several factors that went into the decision to pause grants, including a past policy where the organization would dip into reserve funds in order for partnered agencies to receive grant funding.

The organization also fell about $90,000 short of its campaign goal this past year, and forced them to further dip into the reserve funds which are now nearly depleted.

A recent, unexpected staffing change also made matters worse. 

"The decision was really two-fold. One part of it was a significant decrease in funding and just a lot of different changes that were going on this past year because of economic, political, even some internal changes that were made," said Kearney Area United Way Executive Director Savannah Lyon.

"We lost an AmeriCorps VISTA member and that came suddenly. We found out at like 6.30 on Friday night that her position was immediately terminated because of DOGE cuts. That really just kind of threw everything into a loop," added Lyon.

As part of the reset, the organization is forming task force groups and is working toward a new campaign model that builds funding first and then distributes it, rather than committing dollars in advance.

United Way officials assure donors that any donations made have already gone to their appropriate partners, and the pause is to allow the organization's reserve fund to grow until it is more financially stable.

Fundraising for partner agencies is going to look different in the future, and it may take awhile for any new funding to become available, especially for certain campaigns.

"The employee campaigns run January through December, and that means that it'll likely be 2027 before our partner agencies receive funding from those employee campaigns. And the fact of the matter is we just have to have the dollars before we can give them. We don't have any reserves to give them going forward," said Lyon.

Lyon also mentioned that donors in recent years have started giving to organizations directly, instead of through United Way or their various campaigns. The task force will also look at ways to address that change in donations.

Officials said the transition will be difficult but it’s a necessary step to ensure United Way can continue serving the Kearney area for years to come.